The Big Gig

After Jessica graciously allowed me to do her make up for her engagement photos, she hired me for her wedding!  I was totally thrilled to get a big event like this even if I was still not charging for my services.  Due to my perfectionism, I do not want to charge until I am confident in my abilities.  Jessica offered my services to her bridal party and, to my surprise, six people jumped on the bandwagon!  Oh, I really had myself up a creek at that point.  No turning back now!  Jessica came over to my house with one of her bridesmaids a week before the wedding for her consult.  I was much more relaxed this time around, which was probably better for everyone.  The consult went rather smoothly and I did get through two different looks on each eye this time!  We decided on an overall look and everyone was so excited!  The lip color I had picked for her was a perfect fit!  Maybe practice does make perfect. 

The night before the wedding I was probably as giddy as the bride.  I was pacing and knew I was rambling up a storm to Carrie (who did very well at not strangling me at any point during my manic phases).  Several thoughts were going through my head at this point.  Maybe I took on too many people?  Seven women was a lot for my first wedding!  What if I am slower than I planned for and run out of time?  Can I create six different looks with no preparation ahead of time?  I nabbed Carrie while she was relaxing on the couch and tried out a couple techniques that are still shaky.  They were all making her look slightly gothic and were not boosting my confidence in the least.  I went to bed hoping for the best.

I arrived at The Terrell House a couple minutes late; went in and set up my space.  They had a great small bedroom with a table and chair that was right next to the window.  I had been hoping for natural light because make up is always easiest to apply in natural light.  I met a few people and everyone was busy getting ready and going off to hair appointments, which I was glad about cause I didn't want to be the center of everyone's focus.  Ready (no), Set (wait!), GO!

Mother of the Bride: I have had the least practice with mature skin, so this was a challenge to start off with MOB, but in this scenario, you have to be able to roll with anything.  She was so kind and my nerves were not showing up in my voice.  She wasn't a big make up wearer, so I decided to take a lighter approach.  As I did her make up I tried to remember all my mature skin tips (not too much product, really really blend well, no harsh eyeliner, not too glossy on the lips).  The hardest part was mixing a custom lip color, but I think this is my knack because I mixed customs for almost every girl that day.

Aunt of the Bride: I have not had much experience doing makeup on women with blonde hair, so this was a challenge.  For some reason, my go to color combos don't work on blondes, but I think we achieved a great look!  She was specific in her needs, which helped me because requests are always easier to me than people saying "whatever you want".  She complimented my blog and I was so thankful!  Most times, it seems like I am talking to myself so whenever people say they enjoy certain posts I think I've done my job.

Bridesmaid #1: We did a little chatting about what kind of make up she wears everyday, which is helpful because I know how much or little I can do.  She had a request for a certain look and I was relieved because it wasn't overly complicated.  For some reason I had imagined people requesting ridiculous looks the night before (Amy Winehouse anyone?).  She had brought her own false eyelashes so I gave them a quick trim and we were done!  She looked really good!  Even I was impressed with myself.  Whew!

Bridesmaid #2 Dang! Another blonde.  Ok, moving on.  Things were definitely getting smoother and I didn't look or feel as nervous as the beginning of this session.  Pulling out a different look for each girl/woman wasn't as hard as I had imagined.  All went well!

Bridesmaid #3 I had been eyeing her beautiful red hair since the engagement party and already knew I wanted to do bright red lips.  Thankfully, she agreed to it!  She said she had only done red lips once and it wasn't full on RED.  Looking back, for as long as I had wanted to do red lips on her I didn't come with the supplies I should have ( lip liner, appropriate red for her shade).  If I had done better with the preparation, they would have lasted all night...alas...we got most of the night out of them so I was ok with it.  I custom mixed a red for her from my lipstick palette and I was super impressed.  She seemed to really like it too!  Score!

Bridesmaid #4 I knew this bridesmaid the best, so I was probably the most nervous.  What if she doesn't like it?  We know each other personally so I didn't know how she would feel about me being so into her personal space also.  People don't realize how vulnerable you have to be to have someone do your makeup.  Not only do they see you without any makeup on, but they are all up in your personal space.  She was very happy and very pleasant with which to work!  I was running behind so she ended up doing her mascara on her own, but came back to get a lip color picked out, which I took as a big compliment! (meaning she must have liked the rest of it and trusted me enough to not screw up the lip color)

Ok, need to admit something at this point in the day.  During Bridesmaid #4, I was starting to get VERY dizzy.  I had eaten some lunch and been drinking water, but maybe all the standing?  It was major dizziness mixed with a little nausea.  I am sure that no one there noticed anything, but I felt like crap....and who is left but the most important person THE BRIDE!!!  Somehow, I was able to push it to the back of my mind for the finale.

The Bride: Jess and I had a consult prior to this day, so I had my guide sheet ready to use.  The mistakes I had made or steps I had forgotten during the engagement session were fixed and I was ready!  As I went through putting on her makeup, I really felt great about the way it was turning out.  The bridesmaids would come in and ohh and ahhh every now and again and it was a lot of fun!  The photographer showed up and snapped a couple action shots.  I was really feeling like a professional!  I had really encouraged Jess to use the lip color that we did and I am so glad because she looked amazing!  We also used fake eyelashes and that was a good choice because her eyes stood out just the right amount.

After I packed up my stuff and got into my car, I felt awesome mentally and horrible physically.  I stopped on the way home to pick up a gatorade and laid on the couch until the wedding.  I guess five+ hours of standing on your feet and concentrating on fine details would make anyone feel like crap.  But, I did it and I was happy with my work and everyone was happy with their makeup.  Success!!

Check out the great pictures below!  Thanks to Maile for her great photography and Jess for letting me be a part of her wedding!